1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ceiling fans. More particularly, this invention relates to ceiling fans including a neon light.
2. Description of the Background Art
Motor driven fans suspended from the ceiling were used extensively in homes in the United States to provide air circulation before the introduction and popularization of central cooling units.
When the energy crisis dawned in the 1970's, the cost of a kilowatt hour skyrocketed in price and consumers searched for ways to reduce their heating and cooling costs. It has been well established that properly circulated air will raise the overall thermal efficiency of the home air conditioning and cooling system and hence, reduce the cost of maintaining a home at a desired comfort level year-round. Thus, ceiling fans were repopularized in the 1970's.
Indeed, ceiling fans have become so popular that competitiveness in the industry often depends upon the aesthetic features of one ceiling fan versus another. Hence, ceiling fans are usually designed with aesthetically pleasing motor housings and fan blades. Furthermore, a large variety of stylized lights are being designed which may be readily connected to the ceiling fan's switch housing. Most predominantly, such light kits comprise three of four stylized bulb reflectors (for conventional incandescent bulbs), each of which may be pivoted in a different direction for spot lighting.
As a substitute for incandescent lighting, it has recently been proposed to further enhance the aesthetic features of ceiling fans by incorporating neon light tubes into the structure of the fan. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,206 entitled "Illuminated Ceiling Fan", issued Jul. 2, 1991, a neon ceiling fan is disclosed including a plurality of neon tubes positioned about each of the fan blades, about the outer periphery of the motor housing, and vertically along the down rod which supports the fan from the ceiling. Unfortunately, a significant safety hazard is created by such positioning in the sense that the neon tubes are exposed and may be readily burst if a consumer (e.g. person or child) accidentally hits the fan with a broom or a toy. Furthermore, the positioning of the neon tubes about the fan blades subjects the neon tubes to excessive centrifugal forces as the fan blades rotate during use. Finally, in order to comply with typical safety standards, such as Underwriters Laboratory (UL), the high-voltage connections to each of the neon tubes must be appropriately insulated and sealed from tampering by the consumer.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the ceiling fan art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a ceiling fan comprising an upper and lower dome-shaped housing, means for connecting the upper and lower light housings together to create a space therebetween, motor means positioned within the space between the light housings, the motor means having a rotatable rotor, means for non-rotatably connecting the motor means to a down rod through which extends electrical wires for supplying power to the motor means, a plurality of fan blades connected to the rotatable rotor for rotation when the motor means is powered, a switch housing, switch means contained within the switch housing for controlling the operation of the motor means, at least one neon light positioned within the space between the light housings, the light housings permitting illumination from the neon tube to shine therethrough, and circuit means positioned within the switch housing for powering the neon tube to cause illumination thereof.
Another object of this invention is to provide the ceiling fan as noted above wherein the circuit means comprises in combination means for transforming conventional 120 volt AC power to a high voltage DC power, means for pulsing the high voltage DC power to create substantially AC power at a higher frequency, and means for supplying the AC power at the higher frequency to terminals on the neon tube.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.